


Here Comes The Rains

by Winginblood



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-23
Updated: 2014-01-23
Packaged: 2018-01-09 17:26:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1148799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winginblood/pseuds/Winginblood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sephiroth was aware of his skills, and justly proud of them, but he was also aware of his shortcomings. He found it difficult to read people, difficult to build and maintain relationships. Like any good General, Sephiroth knew when to delegate. Today seemed to be one of those times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here Comes The Rains

It wasn’t unusual for Sephiroth to find his apartment already occupied on his return home. It didn’t happen every day but there were certain people who seemed to gravitate towards his space when they had free time. Not by arrangement, he had no memory of making the open invitation that seemed to exist amongst his small group of close colleagues that had become his friends. However, more often than not, when he opened his apartment door at the end of the day there would already be one or more people inside. They may all give different reasons but he was sure the root cause was the same. When Genesis set his mind to something he was an incredibly difficult man to say no too. He had decided some time ago that Sephiroth had spent too much if his early life on his own and the balance needed to be addressed.

Today was no different but Sephiroth wasn’t surprised. He had been expecting this particular visitor from the moment that the mission report and copy travel orders had arrived in his in box that morning. 

The first thing Genesis always did on his return from a mission that lasted more than a few hours, after filing his report and giving the paperwork that had accumulated on his desk a cursory glance, was jump in the shower to, as Genesis put it, ‘wash the ShinRa off’. He would then open up a bottle of his favourite wine and a box of ridiculously expensive chocolates and settle down to catch up on his shows. It was the best way he had found to unwind from the stresses and strains that came along with the perks of being a world famous SOLDIER at the company’s beck and call and he had decided that the best place to do it was Sephiroth’s couch. 

It didn’t always work. If the mission had been a particularly difficult one, or had failed in some way, then Sephiroth would barely get a foot inside his apartment door before Genesis would be on him and either pushing him back out to hit the gym for an intense sparring session or unfastening buckles and belts as he was dragged to his bedroom for a different kind of work out. Fight or fuck were equally good to Sephiroth as a way of relieving tension and he was always willing to assist Genesis’ attempts to release some of his demons.

Genesis had always been the most...temperamental of Sephiroth’s companions. Quick to anger, quick to laugh, his moods often changing faster than Sephiroth could keep up with. 

Sephiroth was aware of his skills, and justly proud of them, but he was also aware of his shortcomings. He found it difficult to read people, difficult to build and maintain relationships. 

Emotionally stunted. 

That was the phrase he had heard Genesis use when he had accidentally overheard him and Angeal discussing their new Captain not long after they had first been sent to Wutai. Sephiroth hadn’t taken offence. It hadn’t occurred to him that he should. After all, why would ShinRa’s weapon need emotions? They would only cloud his judgement in battle and they needed him to be ruthless and obedient.

When Genesis had found out just what Sephiroth’s upbringing in the lab had been like he had been emotional enough for both of them, and probably a few other people as well. The damage to the V.R. room had been significant and expensive that day as Genesis had worked out his anger and Sephiroth’s ‘education’ had begun in earnest. Genesis’ hatred of ShinRa had increased exponentially too. 

From the moment that Genesis had decided that they should be friends he had declared himself Sephiroth’s moral and emotional support worker. They were already bound together from the fact they were ShinRa’s only Firsts which Genesis took to mean they were ‘honour bound’ to get along. It hadn’t been easy; Genesis’ supply of patience and subsequent hurt feelings no match for Sephiroth’s innate thoughtlessness of the damage that could be done to others with careless words or actions. 

Even though everyone would say that progress had been made over the years, Sephiroth knew his limits. He knew he was now better able to empathise and sympathise to a certain extent but it seemed to him that when he tried to ‘help’ or offer advice or solutions that it could make a situation worse or bring about entirely new problems. So mostly he just listened. He had found that often his friends just needed to talk and if he held his tongue and allowed them to do so for long enough they would find their own solutions. He didn’t always understand how they found those solutions, his analytic mind not always able to follow what he perceived to be illogical jumps in their thought processes, but he would accept their thanks and move on. 

And, like any good General, Sephiroth knew when to delegate. Today seemed to be one of those times.

As expected he found Genesis’ boots and Rapier in his hallway. What was not expected was Genesis’ position on his couch, sitting upright, knees hugged tight to his chest, forehead resting on his knees, and rocking slightly. Sephiroth had seen this before, witnessed the emotional outpouring that had followed Angeal’s soft touch to Genesis’ shoulder and gentle whisper of his name. On that occasion Genesis had blamed himself for the deaths of the infantry men and the SOLDIERS that he had led on the mission. Questioned why he had been the only one to return unscathed. Railed against the unfairness of life. Sephiroth had remained in the room but as a spectator only. He knew he had nothing to offer and had watched in awe as Angeal had talked and reasoned with Genesis, somehow remaining calm in the face of Genesis’ anger and destructive behaviour. Angeal had weathered the tears and accusations until he had been able to coax a genuine, if small, smile from Genesis along with an admission that there was nothing he could have done differently. That they could only make the best of the situations that ShinRa put them in. 

Sephiroth _knew_ he would not have been able to help in the way Angeal had. In the way Genesis had needed. 

Despite Genesis and Angeal’s many, many lessons, and Genesis’ insistence of his emotional growth, he did not think he could help now. His hand reached for his PHS and he scrolled quickly though his contact list, looking for someone that Genesis would allow to see him like this. Angeal had left on a mission that morning. Zack, who at least would have the necessary strength and speed if things turned violent, also still away. Perhaps... Sephiroth’s thumb hovered Cloud’s number. Sephiroth knew his schedule, as he did with all those he thought of as friends, and, while Cloud was due on guard duty soon, had the authority to change it. While the immediacy of the change of orders may be questioned they would not be countermanded. Cloud could be here in a matter of minutes and would be much better equipped to deal with whatever had upset Genesis so badly. Sephiroth would stay close in case restraints were needed. Genesis could snap Cloud like a twig and suffer a lifetime of regret as a result of a flash of action before thought could temper it.

No, Sephiroth thought. I cannot expose the young one to this.

He put his PHS away and stepped cautiously into his living room, offering a small smile. “Genesis.”

Genesis’ head lifted but only enough to allow him to turn it so he lay with his ear pressed against his knees, his bright eyes wet with unshed tears as he looked over at Sephiroth. “Seph.”

Sephiroth glanced around the room, noting the empty wine bottle and glass on the coffee table and the new scorch marks on the wall. He sat down close beside Genesis and reached out tentatively to touch his arm. “What is wro...” 

He didn’t get to finish his question before Genesis uncurled and flung himself at Sephiroth, knocking him back into the couch as he landed in his lap, arms hugging Sephiroth’s waist and burying his face in Sephiroth’s neck. “They’re all dead,” he wailed as the dam broke and tears fell. 

Sephiroth stumbled over a response but his arms lifted to embrace Genesis. He had followed Genesis’ mission closely, as he always did, as he always did with Angeal and Zack too, his position allowing him full access to the daily reports almost before anyone else had had the chance to decode them and, while Genesis had been gone for almost three weeks, everything had gone smoothly. There had been minimal casualties and certainly no deaths. At least not from their forces. Sephiroth knew of only one type of enemy death that had the potential to do this to Genesis. It would be just like ShinRa to omit details like the age of the targets from the mission briefings. 

“Gen?” Sephiroth tightened his grip, one hand moving up and down over Genesis’ back. “Were they children?” 

“No...it...it was...” Genesis stammered through his continued sobbing. “Fuck, Seph. He killed Robb and Catelyn.” 

Images of the mission reports spun through Sephiroth’s mind, names leaping out at him but nothing even close to those Genesis had said. There was a vague familiarity to them though that Sephiroth couldn’t quite place. “Who, Genesis? I don’t recog...”

Genesis continued as if Sephiroth hadn’t spoken, his words broken by hiccupping breaths as he brought his crying back under control. “They were so happy...at...at the wedding...and...and Robb...he...he was going to be a father but...but then he...he... The bastard set them up... And, oh Goddess, Seph, Arya....she...she was there and she saw them kill Grey Wind. She survived but I do not think she will easily forget the abomination what was made of her brother’s body.” 

As Sephiroth listened to Genesis he was wracking his brain, trying to connect the names with faces, old missions, people from Genesis and Angeal’s home village, but was coming up empty. Right up until the mention of the Dire Wolf and the brave child that Genesis had taken such a shine to. Sephiroth didn’t watch the show, per se. He would see the occasional episode with Genesis and Genesis was always eager and willing to explain the parts that Sephiroth had missed in the intervening weeks in great detail. There were not many television shows that captured Genesis attention, many that he did not watch beyond the first or second episode. But the ones that did? He invested himself in them heavily. Suddenly the marks on the wall made sense. At least he wouldn’t need to replace his television this time. “Genesis? Please tell me you are not this upset over a television fiction.”

Genesis stiffened in Sephiroth’s arms, his words enunciated clearly, and the General could have sworn the temperature in the room dropped by several degrees. “It. Was. Unexpected. And therefore traumatising.”

Sephiroth smiled but was careful not to let Genesis see it, using the hand that had threaded into his hair to hold him close. “You do understand that they are not real people?”

“Of course.”

“Very well. Then you have my condolences.”

Genesis sniffed and pulled away to sit up. “Do not mock me.”

Sephiroth wiped the smile from his face, using every ounce of his training and skill to keep it calm and impassive. “Never.” His hand moved from Genesis’ hair and he gently brushed his thumb under Genesis’ eye to wipe away the dampness left by his tears. “One thing puzzles me though. I thought you wanted the girl with the dragons to attain the throne?”

“Yes.”

“So, for that to happen, the Stark’s surely all have to die? They will not willingly give up their claim or their desire for revenge on the Lannisters.”

“They do. But not yet.”

“Ah. I see.”

Genesis’ eyes narrowed. “What, _exactly_ , do you see?”

“That the author clearly did not yet receive the memo on how the planet is supposed to run to your timetable.”

Genesis’ hand raised, whether to strike him or cast a spell unclear, but Sephiroth was faster and grabbed Genesis’ wrist tightly enough that he was forced to unclench his fist. He winced when the pressure on his wrist increased as he tried to free it and hissed out, “I hate you.”

“Hmmm. I think not.” Sephiroth released Genesis’ wrist but didn’t yet let him leave his lap, wrapping both arms around his back instead in a loose hug. “I have, however, taken the liberty of booking a V.R. room for us for the evening if you want to prove your assertion and attempt to hit me.” 

Genesis pulled his arm back, rubbing his wrist to soothe the ache and flexing his fingers. “It would hardly be a fair fight when you have already caused an injury and so impeded my flexibility.” 

“I do enjoy your flexibility.” Sephiroth took hold of Genesis’ wrist again, gentler this time, and brought it to his lips to kiss. “Perhaps if I offered to tie one hand behind my back? Would that make it a fairer challenge?” 

“Tying you up is always an acceptable proposition.”

Sephiroth allowed himself a small smile. “It’s good to have you home, my friend.”

Genesis resisted returning the smile but Sephiroth could see it twitching around his lips. “Not your friend.”

Sephiroth’s smile broadened and he gave a slight nod of his head. “My Khaleesi.”


End file.
